Babar Azam: “Get well soon, come back stronger”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan batsman Babar Azam wants to see fiery fast bowler Haris Rauf return from injury with a vengeance and be at his best.
Rauf suffered a dislocated shoulder while playing for the Lahore Qalandars in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and will require four to six weeks to make a full recovery.
Prior to getting injured, the 30-year-old had been criticised for leaking too many runs when bowling.
This was evident during the five-match T20I series against New Zealand as he took seven wickets in four games at an average of 23 and an economy rate of 10.61.
In PSL 9, he was nowhere near his best as he finished with two wickets in four matches at an average of 66 and an economy rate of 9.42.
Azam knows how dangerous Rauf can be when he is firing on all cylinders and urged the Rawalpindi-born speedster to work hard and “come back stronger.”
“Get well soon, come back stronger,” he said in an Instagram story as quoted by Geo Super.
The Qalandars were the defending champions coming into PSL 9, but failed to make it to the playoffs as they finished at the bottom of the points table after winning just one out of their 10 games.
Azam, meanwhile, has been captaining the Peshawar Zalmi and has scored 544 runs in 10 games, which includes a century and five fifties, at an average of 60.44 and a strike-rate of 144.29.
The Zalmi made it through to the playoffs, but lost to the Multan Sultans by seven wickets in the Qualifier.
They will now take on Islamabad United in Eliminator 2 on March 16, with the winner going on to face the Sultans in the final on March 18.
Lahore Qalandars Squad for PSL 9: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Rassie van der Dussen, Haris Rauf, David Wiese, Sahibzada Farhan, Sikandar Raza, Abdullah Shafique, Zaman Khan, Mirza Tahir Baig, Mohammad Imran, Ahsan Hafeez, Dan Lawrence, Jahandad Khan, Syed Faridoun, Shai Hope, Kamran Ghulam, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Tayyab Abbas
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 9: Babar Azam (captain), Rovman Powell, Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Asif Ali, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Naveen-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Salman Irshad, Arif Yaqoob, Umair Afridi, Dan Mousley, Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Zeeshan, Mehran Mumtaz, Luke Wood, Sufiyan Muqeem, Waqar Salamkheil, Arshad Iqbal, Gus Atkinson, Shamar Joseph